New Beer Weekend #286

Today's new beer is an old family favorite for the holidays that it's great to have widely available again. Let's see if it can stand up against a fresh palate without the boost of holiday cheer making it seem better than it is.

Sam Adams Old Fezziwig
5.9% Winter Warmer



Pours dark amber with a two-finger light tan head.

Aromas of caramel and toffee predominate straight off the pour, with brown bread, dark fruit, and slight molasses taking over soon after.

The taste is mostly as I remember it. Caramel and toffee hit right away and linger through most of the sip; brown bread, some pumpernickel, slight toasted bread, molasses, and dark fruit come out in the middle with a hint of orange as it warms; and earthy hops and slight roast join on the finish. The aftertaste leans bitter and almost medicinal like a bock, keeping this well away from cloying sweetness.

Medium bodied with moderate carb make this active on the palate. Finish is quite sticky, almost syrupy.

Overall, a good winter warmer that lives up to the nostalgia factor. Get rid of that sticky finish and this would be great.

 

Final stop on the road today at Copper Trail Brewing in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Mr. Munich - Helles - 4%

Delicious beer and great body.
Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48056/777123/
3.65/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
On tap at the brewery.

Clear looking golden pour with some amber notes to the color. There's a bit of a white head.
The nose is light with grain notes to it.
The beer is quite malty. There's just a ton of cereal grain flavor in this beer. There's a bit of a caramel hint to the flavor.
This beer has quite a full body for the style and ABV. Body has a bit of a clingy feeling to it.
Damn, lower alcohol beers can have flavor, and this beer proves it.

See you all back at home.

 

Hello NBW!

A new to me Hazy (ya I know, I still drink em hehe) IPA from Well Crafted BC. Hop Monger comes in at 7.1%ABV and features Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, and Amarillo

This was a unique one in such a crowded segment.



3.81/5 rDev -4.8% | Average: 4
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
A vigorous pour gives way to lush foam that recedes leaving extensive lacing in spots as the beer goes down.

Scents of peach rings and lemon drops are available. Atypical hop aroma overall

Drinking this beer is an interesting experience. The brewer gave us a hint on the can that peach ring candy is available to the palate. Having read that, there is no other way to interpret the flavors on hand besides the abundance of lemon coming forth as well. Sweetness is quite present thanks to its wheated nature, but this is not detracting. Furthermore, a bit of resin balances the proceeding out nicely as it coats the tongue with a subtle bitterness. There is a medium body with fluffy and light carbonation as is common with Hazy IPA.

This is a bit of a delicate NEIPA that has plenty of flavor and much to offer but lies in the middle of the pack for me. That said, it is still very Well Crafted and conceived

 

Indiana, Yes!

My sister went to Mississippi State, so Ole Miss is a hard pass here.

 

Or Ultra for that matter

 

Went to City Acre Brewing here in Houston after golf with my golf league buddies:

Skyline Oatmeal Stout • 6% ABV

My friends and I were busy eating and chatting while downing a beer or two, so my notes on this one are fairly few. Overall, it was plenty tasty with minimal sweetness, just enough to help balance out it's more roasted malt/earthy flavors. The mouthfeel was fantastic, exactly what I was looking for after spending a few hours outdoors on a cool, windy day — something with a bit of heft but not too much, if that makes sense.

Official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/43737/777127/?ba=Premo88#review

4.02 (no rDev% — I added the beer to the database)

I've probably overrated it b/c my expectations were fairly low, to be honest. City Acre doesn't have a huge reputation of being one of the city's best breweries, and I was mainly hoping for something that didn't taste like a yeasty, poorly made mess. City Acre surprised me with a stout that's not too shabby. Good news for me, b/c my golf group will likely frequent this place regularly considering how close it is to the course.

Cheers!

 

I didn't know that place was still open ha. I went once many years ago now, I don't think they made much of an impression on me, but I always wanted them to succeed.

 

The new spring entry from Sierra Nevada. It’s light and crisp but my opinion is they’ve had better but I’ll drink the rest of this twelver and figure it out


10 years since the Starman ascended:

 

Light and crisp seem to be a consistent description of this beer thus far on BA. I’m really looking forward to when it makes its rounds to South Jersey.

 

It's not much, but for our purposes, City Acre worked well today. I'll know more about their beer after another visit or two. Right now, the best I can say for them is their beer was at least better than the last pint I had at Holler Brewing.

Speaking of H-Town beer, it looks like I have to visit Saint Arnold tomorrow to see if any of that cask ale is still around. Holy cow! That pint of mild looked amazing.

 

Great point, and I really respect that approach. When I used to train people in flavor analysis, one technique we leaned on was simply describing what you taste or smell no matter how far-fetched it seems. Even if the reference isn’t “correct,” it builds sensory memory and confidence over time.

I’ve also had surgery on my left sinuses, so while my loss of smell isn’t severe, I relate to having to work around limitations. What helps me is resetting between sips — unsalted crackers for palate neutralizing, and even a quick smell of coffee grounds to recalibrate aroma perception. It’s surprisingly effective for getting back to baseline before diving in again.

At the end of the day, everyone’s sensory map is a little different — the shared language just helps us compare notes.

 

Greenhouse Aleworks Phormium Double Hazy IPA with Nelson, Nectaron, & Kohatu Hops, 8.0%; 3.92 overall

Pours a very gold with a thumb+ pf pearl colored head. Average head retention & better lacing

S: A little tropical, a little citrus & some dankness & peaches. Lovely nose

T: Pomelo, white grape, a touch of cattyness & lime up front. Some pineapple, more white grape, passion fruit, peach, pomelo & dryness as this beer warms up, faint green melon as well. Finishes with peach, white grape, dryness & pomelo

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, some acidity, decent balance

Drinks all right, but doesn't pull together flavor-wise, needed it skew tropical or juicy this somewhere in between

 

Back home from my trip to breweries in the Alexandria, MN area, and I'm going to have one that I picked up today.

Night Axe Barrel Aged Imperial Stout - 22 Northmen Brewing - Alexandria, MN - 14.2% ABV

Ok, this is tasting great on this cold and windy evening. Nice dark chocolate notes with all the other flavors I'd expect in a BA Imperial Stout. Delicious.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/56480/540881/

4.31/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This is the 2023 version which is 14.2% ABV

This is a very dark looking beer - pitch black in color. There's a pretty good sized brown colored head - 3 fingers. The head retention is quite good for such a strong beer and it dissipates to a ring around the edge of the glass with no lacing.
The aroma has nice dark chocolate notes to it. It has oak hints to it. There's also hints of vanilla, caramel and dark fruit.
Up front this beer is all dark chocolate. That note does fade a bit and then a good hit of raisin, plum and fig shows up to play on my taste buds. Toward the back is where caramel and vanilla show up. The finish has oak notes from the barrel.
The beer is decent in the body department. Pretty full feeling overall. There's really no burn, which is surprising for a high ABV beer.
This is a decent BA stout overall, and I am glad I made the purchase. I would say getting a can was worth it.

This will be all for tonight, but I plan on having at least one more new beer tomorrow. Cheers all!

 

Notch pils
...very pale semi cloudy light gold appearance with a fluffy white persistent head
...close to medium body with not too much carbonation
..aroma is yeasty bread and toast, cereal with mild earty honey in the background
...taste has a very mild touch of sweetness with some earthy hop bite as well. Toast,cereal and toasted grain
...body is a little weak but otherwise a pretty decent beer

 

Great question to lead us off. I'm kind of a mixed bag - I will try and review blind, but I do check the scores. If I get confused on what I'm tasting or think I'm tasting I will take a peek and look for somebody who seems to have similar taste to keep me on track. There's also a ton of unavoidable input from this thread and on the site in general.

So...kind of tying in to the FW anniversary thread, here's one of those old beers:



Firestone Walker Anniversary XXI, an 11.8% American Strong Ale. I gather it's an amalgamation of Velvet Merkin, Helldorado, Bravo, Stickee Monkee. And maybe one other? Parabola?

Pours cola colored with a quarter inch of tight, beige foam that falls to a thick ring and islands.

The smell is...gentle? But it's busy... I get some chocolate, bourbon, then some rum-like sweetness. Caramel and toffee notesits leaning brown sugar, a little vanilla and maybe coconut? Dark fruit that seems raisin-like and plum. Just a faint booziness. There's a red wine must in the background and a tiny bit of spiciness.

Flavor bomb - smooth and everything is integrated into a cohesive whole. Everything in the aroma is in the taste but hard to separate. I do get a more pronounced bourbon and rum taste after the swallow. The main event is mildly chocolaty, more dark fruit than I expected and plum/prune taste. A little vanilla fliats in and some coconut. Red wine character, sweet like brown sugar and caramel. A little bitterness and a little black pepper at the end along with a weak resinous note. It's drinking just slightly sweet but it has a little bitter counterbalancing that. A little licorice long after the swallow. Very nice.

Feel is smooth and silky. A little carb tingle at first but not for long. I get some carryover of bourbon and rum. It's not dry.

Overall a very enjoyable beer. Smooth and easy drinking, lots of flavors all working together. Great blending technique here. Easily in 4.3 territory.

 

Happy weekend friends, my favorite thread with my favorite beer people. First week back in school for all of us and it was a long week but nice return to normalcy. Today is very rainy and cold, luckily, I have the absolute perfect beer for this evening courtesy of @vurt. He sent me some absolutely perfect beers and this one closes out the box.

I’ve had a few beers from Away Days thanks to friends in this thread, thus I’m looking forward to adding another to that list. A English brown ale, yes please…

Away Days - Bermondsey Brown Ale (English Brown Ale 4.1%)



Attractive beer; crystal clear ver dark chestnut brown, brown hued head; puffy and sustaining; lovely thick cap lingers, lacing is minimal as head is so cohesive; it tries to cling but head wins out.

Nose present aromas of rustic dark bread, toast, some nuttiness; wisps of fruity yeast esters, maybe some woodsy spice.

Taste leans mostly into darkened bread; toast, little dark fruit, very light roast, reminds me of watered down weak roasted coffee; underlying little sweetness throughout.

The body is light, carbonation, soft and smooth; goes down very easy and clean with low to moderate bitterness; little to no residual malt sweetness; very drinkable.

This is a really nice little beer and a fun learning experience, I've had maybe only a few other English browns as they are not easy to find. It presents more malt and yeast character than its American counterpart; its also less hoppy, duh, and much more drinkable than most of our browns, at only 4.1%.

This is a very enjoyable beer to drink, thanks for such a great many drinking experiences Eric.

———————————

May or may not add another review by the time the weekend is up but for now this one is the perfect one to be drinking. Cheers everyone.

 

Burgerliche weissen
...cloudy burnt orange appearance with a lasting tall white head
...medium carbonation with about the same for the body
...aroma is cereal,grain, some toasted grain and malt
..taste almost completely identical to aroma.
..overall very nice with the aroma as well as taste not being overly complex

 

Have a good Saturday. I was up to around 9AM and slept to after 5PM. Got to 86% done with Postwar by Tony Judt. Only a few hours left. Just got done with the chapter on Yugoslavia. Probably going to hit the Cookout tonight after a few good beers. I need to start Trump Tapes by Bob Woodward because it's due in 2 days. I had to wait like 4 months for lt, Ohio only had 1 copy. I finally shaved my head after my hair was getting annoying over the trash can. The cats love the new ball tower toy. Usually Frankie doesn't use it, but now he does. Chuck is in the box.


Great Lakes Conway's Irish Stout. Nice head retention and spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nuttiness, dark bread/crust, toast, herbal, grass, light pepper, light dark fruit/yeast earthiness. Taste follows with big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nuttiness, dark bread/crust, toast, herbal, grass, peppercorn, pine, light dark fruit/yeast earthiness. Medium pine/herbal/roasted bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and body, balanced creamy/bready malt, sticky hops, and chalky roast mouthfeel. Light resins and lingering hop/char bitter dryness. No acrid/astringency. Very flavorful for 4.8%. Nicely rich English malts and balanced earthy hops. Spot on style as expected of the brewery. 4.1/5


Cheers

 

Prairie Joyfully Stuf't BBA Imperial Stout with Coconut, Almonds, & Cream Filled Chocolate Cookies, 13.7 % ABV; 4.45 overall

Pours a somewhat effervescent mahogany with instantly vanishing mocha colored head, floaties abound, coconut I believe. No head retention or lacing, flatout ugly beer, not the first from these guys. Plenty viscous

S: Some barrel, cocoa, coconut once warmer. Rich Oreo notes & Bourbon once warmed up

T: Dark Chocolate, coconut, barrel dryness & a little sweet Bourbon, vanilla up front. Lovely Bourbon notes lace in with caramel, Oreos, & coconut as this beer warms up. Finishes with boozy Oreos. Almond Joys, a little barrel & some rumball notes

MF: Chewy, low carbonation, warming

Like an amped up BA version of Lil Dunk. I have a sweet tooth & love this. Prairie does these ridiculous BA Pastry Stouts very well